Automated delivery vehicle, systems and methods for automated delivery

ABSTRACT

Provided are methods and systems for automated delivery using a delivery vehicle transported by a carrier vehicle. The automated delivery method comprises receiving, by a processing device, an order from a buyer. The order specifies one or more products to be delivered to the buyer and itinerary information. The processing device transmits the order to a placer robot. The placer robot positions the one or more products to a delivery vehicle. A carrier vehicle transports the delivery vehicle to a delivery destination based on the order. The carrier vehicle is driverless and lightweight and moves automatically. The carrier vehicle moves on a flat track using itinerary information of the order.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present utility patent application is a Continuation-In-Partapplication of U.S. utility patent application Ser. No. 13/869,095,filed Apr. 24, 2013, which claims priority benefit of the U.S.provisional applications No. 61/850,782, filed on Feb. 22, 2013, No.61/742,331, filed on Aug. 7, 2012, and 61/743,884 filed on Sep. 12, 2012under 35 U.S.C. 119(e). The contents of the parent application andrelated provisional applications are incorporated herein by referencefor all purposes to the extent that such subject matter is notinconsistent herewith or limiting hereof.

FIELD

This application relates generally to transportation vehicles and, morespecifically, to automated delivery vehicles, systems, and methods forminimizing fuel usage when transporting goods from a seller to a buyer.

BACKGROUND

Conventional transportation vehicles, such as automotive or railwayvehicles, have some benefits. However, conventional automotivetransportation vehicles consume large amounts of fuel, pollute theenvironment, and create traffic congestion. Conventional railwaytransportation vehicles are unable to make tight turns, and are toolarge and heavy to move on conventional street surfaces, andconstructing large underground tunnels is expensive.

While these transportation means may be suitable for a particularpurpose which they address, fuel usage when transporting goods fromsellers to buyers may be significant. Some of the fuel is applied totransport a driver of a transportation vehicle. Moreover, time spentshopping by buyers or delivering goods by delivery staff may beconsiderable.

SUMMARY

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

Provided are methods and systems for automated delivery using thedelivery vehicle. The system for automated delivery may include aprocessing device, a placer robot, at least one delivery vehicle, and acarrier vehicle. The processing device is configured to receive an orderfrom a buyer and transmit the order to the placer robot. The orderspecifies one or more products to be delivered to the buyer anditinerary information. The placer robot is configured to position one ormore products on the delivery vehicle based on the transmitted order.The carrier vehicle is configured to transport the at least one deliveryvehicle with the one or more products based on the transmitted order.The delivery vehicle may ride without a driver along a flat track. Tokeep the delivery vehicle and carrier vehicle on the flat track, aguiding pin attached to the delivery vehicle may interlock with aguiding groove. In some embodiments, the guiding groove may be disposedat least partially in the flat track.

In various embodiments, the carrier vehicle is powered by gas, fossilfuel, a fuel cell, a battery, electricity, and so forth. To transportone or more delivery vehicles, the carrier vehicle can pull the deliveryvehicles or position the delivery vehicles near a platform attached tothe carrier vehicle and transport the delivery vehicles in the platform.

The placer robot may include various embodiments based on the producttype or product placement type. For example, the placer robot may haveone or more arms configured to grasp a product and place the product onthe delivery vehicle or remove the product from the delivery vehicle. Insome embodiments, the placer robot includes a liquid product placerrobot configured to pour an ordered amount of a product in the deliveryvehicle. In other embodiments, the placer robot includes a conveyorplacer robot, with the conveyor placer robot being configured to movethe one or more products into the delivery vehicle. Alternatively, theplacer robot can include an insulated robot dispenser. Due toinsulation, the robot dispenser keeps the temperature of the productunchanged while dispensing the product.

Additionally, the delivery vehicle may include a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) to provide location data associated with a location of thedelivery vehicle. The location data may be processed based on theitinerary information and, based on the comparison, instructions ontravel distance and travel direction associated with a deliverydestination may be adjusted.

Other features and exemplary embodiments are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in thefigures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicatesimilar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment for an automated deliveryvehicle as well as systems and methods for automated delivery using thevehicle.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example delivery vehicle, in accordance to certainexample embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example system for automated delivery, inaccordance to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates is a flow chart illustrating a method for automateddelivery, in accordance to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a liquid placer robot, in accordance to certainexample embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a conveyor placer robot, in accordance to certainexample embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a ledge placer robot, in accordance to certainexample embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an insulated robot dispenser, in accordance tocertain example embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates example variants of carrier vehicle position, inaccordance to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example construction of a carrier vehicle, inaccordance to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates power generation by a delivery vehicle, inaccordance to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example wheel configuration of a deliveryvehicle, in accordance to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example wheel configuration of a deliveryvehicle, in accordance to certain example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A driverless delivery vehicle, systems, and methods for automateddelivery using driverless delivery vehicles are described herein. Anautomated delivery method may enable automated delivery of goods andproducts to a buyer (for example, retail shops, individual buyers,consumers, and so forth). Buyers may order goods or products vianetwork, by phone, or otherwise. An order may be received by aprocessing device of an automated delivery system and transmitted to aplacer robot and/or delivery vehicle. The placer robot may pick up goodsor products according to the order and move them to the deliveryvehicle. The delivery vehicle and the placer robot communicate with eachother wirelessly to exchange information and commands.

The delivery vehicle may then transport the goods or products to adelivery destination based on the order. The delivery vehicle may bedriverless and move to the delivery location automatically. To locatethe delivery destination and its own position, the delivery vehicle mayuse a GPS. The delivery vehicle may be configured to ride along a flattrack. The flat track may include a guiding groove disposed in the flattrack. The delivery vehicle may interlock with the flat track using aguiding pin contacting with the guiding groove.

In some embodiments, to deliver goods or products, driverless deliveryvehicles may be used. The delivery vehicles may include lightweight andsmall vehicles. In some embodiments, the delivery vehicles aretransported by a carrier vehicle. The carrier vehicle travelsautomatically, without a driver.

For various types of products, the placer robot may include differentplacer robot types. For example, a liquid product placer robot may beused for liquid products, granular products, bulked products, and soforth. Additionally, the placer robot may include a conveyor placerrobot configured to move products into the delivery vehicle and/or aledge placer robot where ledges supporting products may be removed toplace the products into the delivery vehicle.

The delivery vehicle can drive from a factory, where the items that isthe delivery vehicle is delivering are produced, to a storage facilitysuch as a retail store, warehouse, and so forth. The storage facilitycan be equipped with placer robots. A placer robot can pick up one ormultiple items out of the delivery vehicle that has arrived from thefactory or other area at the storage facility and place the item oritems on a store shelf, another placer robot that dispenses items, or atanother storage area. Another delivery vehicle can drive from a customerresidency and retrieve the delivered items from the storage facility.Some types of placer robots may be able to pick up items from thedelivery vehicle and store the delivered items so that the stored itemscan be placed onto delivery vehicles at a later time.

A delivery vehicle can drive to the factory where a particular item isproduced and retrieve the ordered item from the factory. The deliveryvehicle can transport the item to the customer residency from thefactory.

In some embodiments, a code consisting of any combination of numbers,letters, and/or symbols, may be provided by the buyer via a keyboard ora key pad of a telephone, lap top, tablet Personal Computer (PC), or thedelivery vehicle itself. Various codes may be associated with variousproducts; thus the automated delivery system may use the provided codeto pick up the products associated with the codes and position them tothe delivery vehicle.

In some embodiments, the order may include itinerary informationassociated with the delivery destination. The itinerary information maybe used by the delivery vehicle to define an itinerary to the deliverydestination and compose itinerary instructions. The delivery vehicle mayreceive the itinerary information from the processing device and/orplacer robot. To store the itinerary information, the delivery vehiclemay include a memory unit. The memory unit may include an external harddrive, CD, DVD, and so forth. Additionally, the delivery vehicle mayinclude a processor to execute itinerary instructions.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an environment 100within which a delivery vehicle 200 and systems and methods forautomated delivery using the delivery vehicle 200 can be implemented.The environment 100 may include a network 110, the delivery vehicle 200,a warehouse 120, a placer robot 130, a product 140, a processing device150, a buyer 170, one or more client devices 180, an order 160, and adelivery destination 190. The network 110 may include the Internet orany other network capable of communicating data between devices.Suitable networks may include or interface with any one or more of, forinstance, a local intranet, a PAN (Personal Area Network), a LAN (LocalArea Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a MAN (Metropolitan AreaNetwork), a virtual private network (VPN), a storage area network (SAN),a frame relay connection, an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)connection, a synchronous optical network (SONET) connection, a digitalT1, T3, E1 or E3 line, Digital Data Service (DDS) connection, DSL(Digital Subscriber Line) connection, an Ethernet connection, an ISDN(Integrated Services Digital Network) line, a dial-up port such as aV.90, V.34 or V.34bis analog modem connection, a cable modem, an ATM(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) connection, or an FDDI (Fiber DistributedData Interface) or CDDI (Copper Distributed Data Interface) connection.Furthermore, communications may also include links to any of a varietyof wireless networks, including WAP (Wireless Application Protocol),GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), GSM (Global System for MobileCommunication), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or TDMA (TimeDivision Multiple Access), cellular phone networks, GPS, CDPD (cellulardigital packet data), RIM (Research in Motion, Limited) duplex pagingnetwork, Bluetooth radio, or an IEEE 802.11-based radio frequencynetwork. The network 110 can further include or interface with any oneor more of an RS-232 serial connection, an IEEE-1394 (Firewire)connection, a Fiber Channel connection, an IrDA (infrared) port, a SCSI(Small Computer Systems Interface) connection, a USB (Universal SerialBus) connection or other wired or wireless, digital or analog interfaceor connection, mesh or Digi® networking. The network 110 may be anetwork of data processing nodes that are interconnected for the purposeof data communication. The delivery vehicle 200 may communicate with theGPS satellite via the network 110 to exchange data on a geographicallocation of the delivery vehicle 200. Additionally, the delivery vehicle200 may communicate with mobile network operators using a mobile basestation.

The buyer 170, using the one or more client devices 180 may send theorder 160 to the processing device 150. The one or more client devices180 may include a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet PC, a laptop, aPC, and so forth. The one or more client devices 180 may communicatewith the processing device 150 via the network 110 wirelessly or bywires using various connections.

The order 160 may include information on one or more products 140 thebuyer wants delivered to the delivery destination 190 and itineraryinformation associated with the delivery destination 190. The itineraryinformation may include instructions on travel distance and traveldirection associated with a delivery destination 190. In someembodiments, information on the product 140 may be provided in the formof an alphanumeric code. An alphanumeric code may be associated with aproduct and be entered via a mobile phone, a PC, a laptop, or a keypadof the delivery vehicle.

The order 160 may be transmitted via network 110 to the processingdevice 150. The processing device 150 may include a server, a computingdevice, and so forth. The processing device 150 may optionally processthe order 160 to extract information to be transmitted to the placerrobot 130 and/or the delivery vehicle 200. Optionally, the processingdevice 150 may store the order 160 to a database.

The order 160 may be transmitted to the placer robot 130 that may belocated in the warehouse 120, a factory, a shop, and so forth. Theplacer robot 130 may pick up the product 140 based on the order 160. Inaccordance to some embodiments, the placer robot 130 may pick up theproduct 140 using an alphanumeric code contained in the order 160.

In some embodiments, the placer robot 130 may communicate with thedelivery vehicle 200 to transmit one or more commands to the deliveryvehicle 200. For example, the placer robot 130 may transmit to thedelivery vehicle 200 a command to approach the placer robot 130 toreceive the product 140 associated with the order 160. Additionally, theplacer robot 130 may transmit a command to deliver the goods or productsto the delivery destination 190.

In other embodiments, the order 160 may be transmitted directly to thedelivery vehicle 200. The delivery vehicle 200 may then travel to theplacer robot 130 and, based on the order 160, transmit a command toposition the product 140 in the delivery vehicle 200. The command may betransmitted wirelessly.

The placer robot 130 may have one or more arms configured to grasp aproduct and place the product on the delivery vehicle or remove theproduct from the delivery vehicle. Thus, the placer robot 130 may graspthe product 140 based on the order 160 and position it to the deliveryvehicle 200.

The delivery vehicle 200 may transport the product 140 to the deliverydestination 190 based on the order 160 and itinerary information, suchas instructions on travel distance and travel direction associated withthe delivery destination 190. For transportation, the delivery vehiclecan be attached to or positioned on a carrier vehicle 155. In variousembodiments, the carrier vehicle 155 is powered by gas, fossil fuel,fuel cell, battery, electricity, solar energy, and so forth.

In some embodiments, the carrier vehicle 155 is powered by one or moreelectrified wires in much the same way that an electric train is poweredby electrified wires. Electricity collected from the electrified wire orwires will power the carrier vehicle 155 through a pantograph and/oranother object that is attached to the carrier vehicle 155 and comesinto contact with and moves across the electrified wire or wires locatednear the guide way.

Furthermore, the carrier vehicle 155 can be powered by an electrifiedrail in much the same way that an electric train is powered by aelectrified rail. Electricity collected from the rail will power thecarrier vehicle 155 through a contact shoe and/or another object that isattached to the carrier vehicle 155 and comes into contact with andmoves across the electrified rail, which is located in between oralongside the tracks of the guide way.

The delivery vehicle 200 may ride along a flat track, with which it maybe interlocked by a guiding pin connected to a guiding groove. Theguiding groove may be disposed at least partially in the flat track.

In some embodiments, the guiding groove includes a ledge attachedthereto, which extends from a side wall of the guiding groove. At thesame time, the guiding pin is an “L” shaped guiding pin. In someembodiments, the guiding pin is a “C” shaped guiding pin with angledinstead of rounded corners. Thus, the ledge that extends from the sidewall can interlock with the part of the “L” shaped guiding pin or the“C” shaped guiding pin that extends horizontally so that the deliveryvehicle 200 is more secure to the flat track.

In various embodiments, the delivery vehicles 200 can move on a guideway that is positioned on a street surface, on a raised guide way thatis supported by pillars, in underground tunnels, and so forth.

A tunnel can be located underground. Alternatively, the tunnel can reston flat ground such as a street or a sidewalk. In some embodiments, thetunnel can be attached to the top of raised piers. The air within thetunnel can be removed, totally or partially, so that the deliveryvehicle will encounter little or no wind resistance while moving throughthe tunnel.

In some embodiments, the delivery vehicle 200 may use a GPS to determineits own location and compare it to the itinerary information.

In some embodiments, an enhanced head generator and contact objectconstruction may be used. The construction may include a head, an axle,a generator, and a contact object. The head may be a circular diskshaped object. At least a portion of the head's curved outercircumference may be covered with a ring of material that generatestraction, such as rubber. At least a portion of the contact object'ssurface may have a ring of gear teeth or may have a ring of roughsurface that may resemble the underside of a rubber jar opening cloth.The gear teeth or rough surface may extend down the top end, bottom end,or center of the longest side of the head outer curved circumference.The entire surface area of the head may be covered with tractiongenerating material, such as rubber, gear teeth, or rough surface. Theaxle may be a cylindrical shaped object. The electric generator may be amachine that produces electricity.

The generator may include an armature and a field structure. The contactobject may be a rectangular shaped bar. The contact object may resemblea wider rectangle that has a narrower rectangle resting down the longestlength of its center. Both faces at the tip ends of the contact objectmay look like a capital “T” turned to its side.

When the delivery vehicle moves, the contact object attached to thedelivery vehicle may come into contact with the head. Such contact maycause the head and axle to spin. The spinning head and axle may powerthe generator. The generator may generate electricity as a result.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example delivery vehicle 200, in accordance tocertain example embodiments. The delivery vehicle 200 may include adriverless delivery vehicle and may travel without a driverautomatically according to instructions processed by a processor. Thedelivery vehicle 200 may be small in size, thus reducing the weight ofthe vehicle and correspondingly reducing gas or energy consumption rate.

The delivery vehicle 200 may comprise a cargo section 210 configured tohold goods or products. A placer robot may position products in thecargo section 210 based on an order received from a buyer.

The delivery vehicle 200 may be used to deliver goods from a factory toa store or warehouse. In other embodiments, the delivery vehicle 200 maybe used by individuals to attain goods from stores. For this purpose,individuals may keep the delivery vehicle 200 at their homes.

The delivery vehicle 200 may comprise one or more wheels 230 configuredto move along a flat track 220. The wheels 230 may have a thick wheellip made of or covered in rubber or some other type of material that issuitable for moving on rough surfaces such as concrete or blacktop. Thewheel 230 may be configured to allow the delivery vehicle 200 to move ona surface area that has no tracks, such as a conventional streetsurface, as well as on a set of tracks.

The flat track 220 may provide a surface area on which the wheels 230 ofthe delivery vehicle 200 may roll. The flat track 220 may be a type oftrack that is flat and at the same level with the road surface or notsubstantially protruding from the road surface. The flat track beingsubstantially on the same level with the road surface will not obstructdrivers as they drive along the road. The flat track 220 may extend downthe area where the wheels 230 move.

In some embodiments, the flat track 220 may be configured to lower therolling resistance that the delivery vehicle 200 encounters whilemoving, thus enhancing fuel efficiency of the delivery vehicle 200.

The flat track 220 may be made of any solid material (for example,steel, copper, concrete, polished concrete, plastic, wood, and soforth). The flat track 220 may have most of its body submerged beneaththe roads surface, except for its top surface. In some embodiments, theflat track may include one or more bars positioned substantiallyparallel to each other at a distance corresponding to a distance betweenthe wheels 230 of the delivery vehicle 200 on one side and on the otherside. Thus, the wheels 230 may move on the flat track 220.

In various embodiments, flat track 220 may have different shape or form.For example, the flat track 220 may be in a shape of a letter “V,” aletter “T,” a letter “C” with flat surfaces and angled rather thanrounded corners, a shape of a vertically oriented rectangular, and soforth.

In some embodiments, the wheels 230 can have one or more grooves aroundthe whole circumference of the wheel. The grooves can include twosurfaces slanting to the center of the outer surface of the wheel toform a corner dent. The grooved wheels 230 can move on a set of tracksor a conventional surface street. The grooved wheels 230 can come intocontact with the flat track 220 as delivery vehicle 200 rolls along theguide, and the outer surface of the wheels 230 can roll on aconventional street surface. The outer surface of the wheels 230 may becovered by rubber, plastic, or some other material.

In the middle part of the flat track 220, one or more channels may bedisposed. Such channels, called guiding grooves 250, may be configuredto hold one or more guiding pins 240 attached to the delivery vehicle200. The guiding grooves 250 may act as a guide way that allows thedelivery vehicle 200 to stay on the flat track 220 and move steadily inthe desired direction. The guiding groove 250 may also be placed along aroad surface, a tunnel ceiling, and so forth. In some embodiments, theguiding groove 250 may include a single guide way.

The guiding pin 240 may be a spindle shaped object extending downwardfrom the bottom of the delivery vehicle 200. When the delivery vehicle200 is positioned on the flat track 220, the one or more guiding pins240 may interlock with the one or more guiding grooves 250. If the flattrack 200 turns, the guiding pins may keep the delivery vehicle 200 onthe flat track 220. Thus, the guiding pin 240 may allow delivery vehicle200 to make turns without changing direction.

In other embodiments, the guiding pin 240 may extend upward from thedelivery vehicle 200. In this case, the guiding groove 250 may belocated, for example, on the surface of a tunnel ceiling.

To slow the delivery vehicle 200, the delivery vehicle 200 may comprisea groove brake (not shown). The groove brake may be a gripping objectextending downward from the delivery vehicle 200. The groove brake maybe configured to grip a groove ledge disposed within the guiding groove250. The groove brake may extend downward from the delivery vehicle 200and be positioned between the walls of the guiding groove 250 when thedelivery vehicle 200 is moving on the flat track 220. The groove brakemay grip a special ledge called the groove ledge which may slow down thedelivery vehicle 200.

In some embodiments, the delivery vehicle 200 may move next to a sidewalk over or next to a gutter. People walking on the sidewalk may beprotected by a rail and/or a wall. The guide way may be raised over thegutter.

Additionally, to receive orders, itinerary information, and otherinformation from a processing device and to control an itinerary, thedelivery vehicle 200 may comprise a control device 260.

In some embodiments, the delivery vehicle 200 may use electronicinstructions that communicate driving directions to a specific deliverydestination. The electronic instructions may be stored in a memory unitthat may be included in the delivery vehicle 200, in the processingdevice, and so forth. The electronic instructions that communicatedriving directions may be retrieved by the delivery vehicle 200 tofacilitate finding a particular location after the delivery vehicle 200has been to that particular location once before.

In some embodiments, the delivery vehicle 200 may be configured toconnect to an information storage device. The information storage devicemay contain the directions on how to get to a particular location. Onestorage device may contain directions that direct the delivery vehicle200 to one retail store, and another storage device may contain drivingdirections on how to get to a different retail store.

In some embodiments, a key pad 270 may be disposed on a side, top, orbottom part of the delivery vehicle 200. The key pad 270 may be used toreceive an alphanumeric code associated with a product to be deliveredto a buyer. The alphanumeric code may be then transmitted to a placerrobot using the control device 260.

In various embodiments, the alphanumeric code may be entered via amobile phone, a PC, a laptop, or a keypad 270 of the delivery vehicle200. For example, a buyer may dial the code 793954 on the telephone keypad to order a loaf of a particular brand of bread. To order 10 loavesof the desired brand of bread, the buyer may first dial 793954 and thendial #10 for 10 loaves of the desired brand of bread. The code sequencewould appear as 7939543#10. If the buyer wants to order 4 loaves of adesired brand of bread, then the buyer may dial 793954#04 for 4 loavesof bread.

In some embodiments, the delivery vehicle 200 may include a GPSproviding location data associated with a location of the deliveryvehicle 200. The location data may be processed based on the itineraryinformation to control the itinerary of the delivery vehicle and reachthe delivery destination.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example system 300 for automated delivery, inaccordance to certain example embodiments. The system 300 may comprise aprocessing device 150, a placer robot 130, a delivery vehicle 200, and acarrier vehicle 155.

The processing device 150 may be configured to receive an order from abuyer and transmit the order to the placer robot 130 and/or to thedelivery vehicle 200. The order may specify products to be delivered tothe buyer and itinerary information. The processing device 150 may befurther configured to enable communication between the placer robot 130and the delivery vehicle 200 wirelessly or by wires. The processingdevice 150 may receive orders via a network wirelessly or by wires.

The placer robot 130 may be configured to position the products to thedelivery vehicle 200 based on the transmitted order. The placer robot130 may use lasers, sonar, stereo cameras, and/or other types of sensorsor any specific mechanism to take measurements regarding the positioningand distance of the product that is to be delivered to the buyer, andthe positioning and distance of the delivery vehicle 200 that willdeliver the product to the buyer. The placer robot 130 may takemeasurements regarding the positioning and distance of the product thatis to be delivered, and pick up the product and place it into thedelivery vehicle 200 with precision.

In some embodiments, the placer robot 130 picks up one or multipleproducts out of the delivery vehicle 200 that is delivering products toa facility such as a store, warehouse, or port of some type, and thenplaces the products onto a store shelf or other storage area. In someembodiments, the delivery vehicle 200 makes one or multiple deliveries.In some embodiments, the placer robot 130 also picks up one or multipleproducts placed on a floor or some other area.

In some embodiments, the placer robot 130 may function under computercontrol. The placer robot 130 may move along tracks on a shelf.

The placer robot 130 may have various embodiments. For example, it mayhave one or more arms to position products to the delivery vehicle 200.In other embodiments, the placer robot 130 may include a conveyor or adispensing unit. Various embodiments of the placer robot 130 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 5-7.

FIG. 4 illustrates is a flow chart illustrating a method 400 forautomated delivery, in accordance to certain example embodiments. Method400 may start with a receiving, at operation 402, an order from a buyer.The order may specify one or more products to be delivered to the buyerand/or itinerary information. The order may be received by a processingdevice and transmitted by the processing device to a placer robot and adelivery vehicle at operation 404.

At operation 406, the placer robot may position the one or more productsto the delivery vehicle. The placer robot may use various sensing unitsand/or mechanisms to locate the delivery vehicle. The placer robot mayinclude one or more arms to grasp a product and position it to thedelivery vehicle. When the products fulfilling the order are positionedto the delivery vehicle, the delivery vehicle may be attached to orpositioned to a carrier vehicle. The carrier vehicle transports theproducts to the delivery destination at operation 408. To reach thedelivery destination, the carrier vehicle and one or more deliveryvehicles may travel on a flat track that may be at least partiallyembedded in a road surface. To locate the delivery destination, thecarrier vehicle and/or delivery vehicles may use itinerary informationcontained in the order. The itinerary information may includeinstructions on travel distance and travel direction associated with thedelivery destination.

Additionally, the carrier vehicle and/or delivery vehicle may include aGPS to provide location of the delivery vehicle and adjust itineraryinformation if needed.

FIG. 5 illustrates a liquid placer robot 520, in accordance to certainexample embodiments. The liquid placer robot 520 may be configured todispense liquid, solid, and/or granular products (for example, milk,juice, porridge, dog food, and so forth). The liquid placer robot 520may include a container 530. The container 530 for the product may bepositioned in the delivery vehicle 200. The container 530 may help toeliminate the use of expandable packaging. The delivery vehicle 200 maymove to the liquid placer robot 520 in order that the liquid placerrobot 520 may fill the container 530.

For example, the product may pour into the container 530 due to gravityafter the liquid placer robot 520 opens a tap.

FIG. 6 shows a conveyor placer robot 600, in accordance to certainexample embodiments. The conveyor placer robot 600 may include aconveyor 650 which houses products and moves items into delivery vehicle200. The products to be positioned by the conveyor placer robot 600 mayinclude boxes 610 of cereal, loaves of bread, canned food, and so forth.

Additionally, the conveyor placer robot 600 may include one or moreledges 660 configured to attach and detach from the conveyor belt tosupport the boxes 610 while they move to the delivery vehicle 200.

FIG. 7 shows a ledge placer robot 700, in accordance to certain exampleembodiments. The ledge placer robot 700 may include sets of ledges 730configured to hold a box 740. The box 740 may include various products,such as boxes of cereals, canned food, and so forth.

To release the box 740 from a hold, robot arms 710 may move to theledges 730 holding the box 740 and remove the ledges 730. The ledges 730may retract and the box 740 may drop down in the delivery vehicle 200.The ledges 730 may include one or more springs to allow the ledges 730to extend forward after retracting. In some embodiments, the ledges 730may be detachable, and may be replaced with ledges of different sizesand shapes. The box 740 within the ledge placer robot 700 may drop downinto the delivery vehicle 200 or a mechanical placer device 720 locatedat the bottom of the ledge placer robot 700. If the box 740 drops downinto the mechanical placer device 720, then the mechanical placer device720 may place the box 740 into the delivery vehicle 200. There can beone row of ledges 730 inside of ledge placer robot 700, or more than onerow of ledges 730.

FIG. 8 illustrates a process 800 for positioning products to a deliveryvehicle using an insulated robot dispenser, in accordance to certainexample embodiments. The placer robot is insulated with one layer ormultiple layers of insulative materials 810 which will help keep foodproducts and/or other products, for example, one or more boxes 840,inside of the placer robot at desired temperature. Any specific type of,or combination of, insulative materials can be used within the placerrobot.

For example, the thermal insulating materials 810 used on a robotdispenser may include but are not limited to a metal (such as steel,aluminum, or copper) plastic (such as styrofoam, foam board, or rigidfoam) plastic fibers, concrete, vacuum insulated panel, Silica aerogel,Polyurethane, natural fibers, foil, Polyurethane rigid panel, quallofil,thermolite, hollofil, Polar Guard, metallic fabric, and so forth.

There may be an air space between the layers on the walls of the placerrobot. The air space will serve as an additional insulative layer.

One or more sets of shutters 820 open to position the box 840 to adelivery vehicle 200. In other times the shutters 820 are closed to keepthe temperature of the products in the insulated robot dispensersubstantially the same.

FIG. 9 illustrates example variants of carrier vehicle position 900, inaccordance to certain example embodiments. The carrier vehicle 155 canbe positioned at any place in relation to delivery vehicles 200. Thecarrier vehicle 155 can be placed in front of a row of the deliveryvehicles 200. In other embodiments, the carrier vehicle 155 is placed inthe middle of a row of delivery vehicles 200 or at the rear of a row ofdelivery vehicles 200. Several carrier vehicles 155 can be attached toone or more delivery vehicles 200 at the same time. The carrier vehicle155 can move one or more delivery vehicles 200 through an enclosed area,such as a store. Since the delivery vehicles 200 can be gas powered andthe carrier vehicle 155 can be powered by a battery or through anelectrified rail or wire, this will allow transport of delivery vehicles200 through an enclosed area without release of a toxic gas.

FIG. 10 illustrates example construction 1000 of a carrier vehicle 155,in accordance to certain example embodiments. A carrier vehicle 155 canbe larger than delivery vehicles 200 and can carry the delivery vehicles200 on a platform attached to the carrier vehicle 155 to a destinationplace. In some embodiments, the carrier vehicle 155 makes many stops totransport delivery vehicles 200 that have different destination places.

FIG. 11 illustrates power generation 1100 by a delivery vehicle, inaccordance to certain example embodiments. A delivery vehicle 200 caninclude a contact object 1110 that functions like a rear gear. Thecontact object 1110, when the delivery vehicle 200 moves, turns a headgear 1120 of a power generation unit. The head gear 1120 powers thepower generation unit, which generates electricity as a result.

The head gear 1120 and an axle are levitated by magnets 1130 to avoidfriction when the head gear 1120 and axle are rotating.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example wheel configuration 1200 of a deliveryvehicle, in accordance to certain example embodiments. A wheel 1210 ofthe delivery vehicle can have a groove 1220 along the outer surface ofthe wheel 1210. The groove 1220 can be configured to match the shape ofthe track on which the delivery vehicle is moving. The track can includeone or more convex bars 1230 contacting with the groove 1220.

The groove 1220 and the convex bar 1230 can interlock each other toensure fixation of the delivery vehicle on the track. Since the trackcan include a plurality of the convex bars 1230, delivery vehicles withwheelbases of different width can move on the track. The wheel 1220 canmove on both conventional road surfaces and the track with convex bars1230.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example wheel configuration 1300 of a deliveryvehicle, in accordance to certain example embodiments. FIG. 13 shows analternative configuration 1300 of a wheel 1310 of the delivery vehicle.In this case, the groove 1320 is in the shape of a concave cornermatching the form of the track which includes one or more convextriangle 1230 with in the shape of a convex triangle.

Thus, various systems and methods for automated delivery using adriverless delivery vehicle transported by a carrier vehicle have beendescribed. Although embodiments have been described with reference tospecific example embodiments, it will be evident that variousmodifications and changes may be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the system and methoddescribed herein. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automated delivery system comprising: aprocessing device configured to receive an order from a buyer andtransmit the order to a placer robot, the order specifying one or moreproducts to be delivered to the buyer and itinerary information; theplacer robot configured to position one or more products to a deliveryvehicle based on the transmitted order; the delivery vehicle configuredto transport the one or more products based on the transmitted order,the delivery vehicle riding along a flat track, wherein the deliveryvehicle includes a guiding pin, the guiding pin being configured tointerlock with a guiding groove; a carrier vehicle configured to enablethe movement of one or more delivery vehicles.
 2. The automated deliverysystem of claim 1, wherein the carrier vehicle travels automaticallywithout a driver and includes a pull vehicle or a conveyor, the carriervehicle being powered by gas, fossil fuel, fuel cell, battery, orelectricity.
 3. The automated delivery system of claim 1, wherein thecarrier vehicle is configured to be powered by an electrified rail, thecarrier vehicle including a contact shoe contacting the electrified railto pick up electrical energy from the electrified rail.
 4. The automateddelivery system of claim 1, wherein the carrier vehicle is configured tobe powered by at least one electrified wire, the carrier vehicleincluding a contact shoe contacting the at least one electrified wire topick up electrical energy from the at least one electrified wire.
 5. Theautomated delivery system of claim 1, wherein the order is received viaa network wirelessly or by wires, the order including an alphanumericcode associated with a product, the code being entered via a mobilephone, a personal computer, a laptop, or a keypad of the deliveryvehicle.
 6. The automated delivery system of claim 1, wherein theitinerary information includes instructions on travel distance andtravel direction associated with a delivery destination.
 7. Theautomated delivery system of claim 1, wherein the placer robot has oneor more arms configured to grasp a product and place the product on thedelivery vehicle and remove the product from the delivery vehicle. 8.The automated delivery system of claim 1, wherein the placer robotincludes a liquid product placer robot, the liquid product placer robotbeing configured to pour an ordered amount of a product in the deliveryvehicle, a container being placed in the delivery vehicle to pour theproduct in the container.
 9. The automated delivery system of claim 1,wherein the placer robot includes a conveyor placer robot, the conveyorplacer robot being configured to move the one or more products into thedelivery vehicle.
 10. The automated delivery system of claim 1, whereinthe placer robot includes an insulated robot dispenser, the insulatedrobot dispenser being configured to dispense the one or more productsinto the delivery vehicle while keeping a temperature of the one or moreproducts substantially unchanged.
 11. The automated delivery system ofclaim 1, wherein the delivery vehicle includes a key pad configured toreceive an alphanumeric code associated with a product.
 12. Theautomated delivery system of claim 1, wherein the delivery vehicleincludes a Global Positioning System, the Global Positioning Systemproviding location data associated with a location of the deliveryvehicle, the location data being processed based on the itineraryinformation to control the itinerary of the delivery vehicle.
 13. Anautomated delivery method comprising: receiving, by a processing device,an order from a buyer, the order specifying one or more products to bedelivered to the buyer and itinerary information; transmitting the orderto a placer robot; positioning, by the placer robot, the one or moreproducts to at least one delivery vehicle; transporting, by a carriervehicle, the at least one delivery vehicle to a delivery destinationaccording to the itinerary information, wherein the at least onedelivery vehicle is configured to ride along a flat track, the at leastone delivery vehicle comprising a guiding pin, the guiding pin beingconfigured to interlock with a guiding groove.
 14. The automateddelivery method of claim 13, wherein the carrier vehicle includes a pullvehicle or a conveyor, the carrier vehicle being powered by gas, afossil fuel, a battery, or electricity.
 15. The automated deliverymethod of claim 13, wherein the order is transmitted to the deliveryvehicle, the delivery vehicle communicating with the placer robot tosend a command to cause the placer robot to position the one or moreproducts on a delivery vehicle based on the order.
 16. The automateddelivery method of claim 13, wherein the delivery vehicle communicateswith the placer robot wirelessly.
 17. The automated delivery method ofclaim 13, wherein the placer robot includes a liquid product placerrobot, the liquid product placer robot being configured to pour anordered amount of a product in the delivery vehicle, the productincluding a liquid product, a granular product, and a solid product. 18.The automated delivery method of claim 13, wherein the placer robotincludes a conveyor placer robot, the conveyor placer robot beingconfigured to move the one or more products into the delivery vehicle.19. The automated delivery method of claim 13, wherein the placer robotincludes an insulated robot dispenser, the insulated robot dispenserbeing configured to dispense the one or more products into the deliveryvehicle while keeping a temperature of the one or more productssubstantially unchanged.
 20. The automated delivery method of claim 13,further comprising: processing the order to retrieve order data; storingthe order data in a database.